Degreasing apparatus



Sept; 14, 1943- w. D. PHILLIPS ET AL DEGREASING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 3, 1940 14, 1943} I w. D. HlLLlPs ET AL 2,329,674

DEGREAS ING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 5, 1940 Patented Sept. 14, 1943 DEGREASING APPARATUS Willard D. Phillips and Ralph A. Van Fossen, Chicago, Ill., assignors, by mesne assignments, to The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application August 3, 1940, Serial No. 351,018

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a degreasing apparatus and particularly to a new and improved degreasing cabinet having certain inherent advantages not contemplated in the prior art. One of the particular objects of the invention is to provide a degreasing cabinet with a new and novel mechanical design wherein a cabinet of comparatively small size and weight is arranged to include a relatively large vapor treating chamber adapted to handle large and heavy machinery. v

A further object of the invention is, to provide a degreasing cabinet having a maximum strength at the upper rim of the cabinet to resist accidental damage resulting from possible impact of heavy machinery being hoisted into or from the vapor chamber of the cabinet.

A further object of the invention is to provide a, degreasing cabinet of novel design arranged to include means to compensate for the natural expansion of the metal during extreme and rapid change in temperature to prevent buckling or splitting of the cabinet walls when sub- Jected to comparatively great or uneven changes in temperature.

Referring now more particularly to the draw- Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through a degreasing cabinet constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 22 in Fig. 1:

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective View of one of the four wall sections of the cabinet illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The cabinet structure The degreasing cabinet illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 comprises a unitary structure consisting of four similar vertical wall plates H, l2, l3,'

and [4 preferably formed of heavy sheet metal material and welded to each other at each of the four corners of the rectangular cabinet. It is contemplated that the walls H, I2, l3, l4 may be formed of comparatively heavy iron or steel plates, but to provide maximum durability and strength it has been found advisable to provide a reinforced upper rim portion capable of withstanding great physical impact. In this connection it may be well to point out that the cabinets here illustrated are of a size suflicient to accommodate quite large and heavy castings, as for example, the main castings on large engines, and that these casings are usually placed in the chamber by means of a crane or other hoist because of their great mass and weight. In high speed production it is not an infrequent occurrence for such a casting to be lowered inaccurately or otherwise caused to strike the upper rim of the degreasing cabinet with a great impact. It is desired, therefore, to form the upper rim of the cabinet in a manner to efiectively resist such blows and to this end we prefer to fold each of the metal wall plates ll, l2, l3, and I4 inwardly at their upper edge to provide a horizontal top portion i5, thence downwardly to provide a portion I6 and an inclined portion ll joining the lower extremity of the portion 16 with the vertical surface of the outer wall. The lower edge of the inclined portion I1 is preferably welded to the wall along the weld l8, but it i to be particularly noted that this welded joint is remote from the upper rim of the cabinet and very well protected against accidental impact and that the exposed corners 2|, 22, and 23 are bent or folded portions of the wall plates capable of withstanding great physical shock without danger of separation. When constructed in this manner the upper rims of the degreasing cabinet possess unusually great inherent strength and are well adapted to resist physical shock or impacts, and in addition the upper rim of the cabinet comprises a. hollow chamber adapted to be used as a solvent reservoir or air cooled condenser, as will appear hereinafter.

At the lower extremity of the wall plates ll, l2, l3, and 14 each plate is bent inwardly, to form a substantially horizontal bottom portion 24 extending partially across 'the floor of the cabinet and is then bent upwardly to provide a short marginal upstanding flange 25 between the horizontal portions 24 of the cabinet floor and a central vaporizing sump26u From the foregoing description it will be seen that each of the wall plates is formed to include an upper rim of hollow configuration and a lower horizontal fioor section 24. The opposite ends of the four wall plates Ii, I2, i3, and I4 are then cut at an angle or mitred at each end, as illustrated in Fig. 3, so that they may be assembled by welding the entire length of the end edges 21 and 28 to the corresponding edges of the other wall plates of the cabinet. This arrangement possesses certain inherent advantages as far as physical strength is concerned since the only welded joints are along the weld l8 and the end edges 21 and 28 and when the cabinet is assembled, these welds are positioned in the corner comparatively well protected against impact due to careless handling of castings being lowered into the chamber. The cabinet legs 29 are preferably welded to each corner of the cabinet.

bottom plate 3| folded at the points 32 and 33 to provide angular inclined side walls 34 and 35 joined to the short vertical side walls 36 and 31 by folds 38 and 39. End plates 4| and 42 are welded to the main bottom plate 3| and the entire vaporizing sump 26 is of proper dimensions so that the upper marginal edges formed by the vertical portions 36 and 31 and the end plates 4| and. 42 are of proper size and shape to fit closely within the central orifice defined by the four vertical sections 25 on the main wall plates II, i2, i3, and M of the cabinet.

The sump 26 is secured in position by welding the upper marginal edge of the sump to the upper marginal ed e of the vertical portions 25 to provide a weld 43 extending entirely around the sump. It is to be particularly noted, however, that the weld 43 is at the extreme upper portion of the rim of the sump and that the vertical portion 25 lies in close relationship with the walls 36, 31, 4| and 42 of the sump but is not rigidly connected therewith. This arrangement provides a double upstanding flange extending en tirely around the vaporizing sump 26 which by reason of its double walled construction is comparatively yieldable and may compensate for any equalities in expansion and contraction of the entire degreaser cabinet and thus prevent any unnecessary strains on the metal which might otherwise tend to split the welded joints connecting the several plates forming the cabinet.

The sump 26 is provided with a plurality of electrical heating elements 45 threaded into the wall 42 of the sump, and provided with a high temperature thermostat bulb 46 and a vapor level thermostat 41 arranged to actuate an electrical switch and control the operation of the heating elements as more fully illustrated in our co-pending application, Serial No. 338,478, filed June 3, 1940.

A sediment sump 48 and flushing pump 49 are also preferably provided, but since these structures form no pertinent part of the present invention they will not be described in detail.

It is desirable to provide a marginal partition Within the degreaser cabinet to define a vapor treat ng area, and for this purpose vertical walls 52, 53, and 54 are mounted between suitable angle irons 55 and 56 secured to the floor portion 24 of the cabinet. The walls 5|,

52, 53, and 54 serve to separate the central area from the outer walls of the cabinet to provide a double-walled construction in which the space between the two walls acts as a thermal insulation to prevent unduly rapid condensation of the hydro-carbon vapors. In addition to this it is to be apprecieted that this arrangement assists in maintaining a proper vapor level, since whenever the vapors in the central area of the cabinet rise to a point beyond the upp r edge of the walls 5|. 52, 53 and 54, they will overflow into the marginal chamber and condense rapidly against the relatively cool oute" walls of the cabinet. A work supporting platform 55 may be provided near the lower part of the vapor treating chamber and this platform 55 is preferably supported on angle irons 56 welded or otherwise secured to the inner surfaces of the partition walls 5|, 52, 53, and 54.

With this arrangement, it will be seen that all condensate formed on any work positioned The vaporizing sump 26 comprises a main.

' of the cabinet.

solvent level in the vaporizing sump 26.

within the inner partition of the chamber will fall through the platform and directly into thevaporizing sump 26, or will flow downwardly outside of the upstanding partition 25 and through the solvent port 51 into the vaporizing sump 26.

The cabinet cover It is desirable to provide covers for the vapor cabinet to conserve heat and to prevent cuerrnts of air from tending to disturb the normal vapor level of the device in such a manner as to cause hydro-carbon vapors to overflow into the atmosphere. It is essential, however, that these covers be of such mechanical design as to be easily operated and at the same time capable of withstanding considerable physical impact without damage. It is also desirable to arrange the covers in such a manner as to include vapor baffle surfaces designed to prevent discharge of hydro-carbon vapors into the atmosphere at the instant the cover is opened.

In the present invention these objections have been accomplished by providing a pair of relatively thin sheet metal covers 6|, each provided with a suitable handle 62, and having out-side flanges 63, 64, and arranged to extend downwardly adjacent the wall surfaces ll, I3, and I4, respectively. Inside flanges 66 are provided on one side of the rectangular covers 6i and these inside flanges extend downwardly within the walls of the cabinet and terminate in reverse hook flanges 61.

By examination of Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the inside flange 66 is of a length less than the inside dimension of the cabinet rim, so that these flanges may extend downwardly in the center of the cabinet. When the operator desires to open the covers, he may grasp one of the handles 62 and slide the entire cover 6| outwardly until the hooked flange 67 engages the inner surface of the cabinet rim. At this time the operator will lower the cover 6| into the position shown on the right-hand side of Fig. 1, Where it will lie in close proximity to the walls It is to be noted that the width of the inside flange 66 corresponds with the Width of the cabinet rim l5 so that when the cover is lowered into open position, it fits snugly over the cabinet rim, so that the two thicknesses of metal comprising the cabinet rim and cabinet cover, reinforce each other and provide additional resistance to physical impact. It will also be appreciated that as the cover is being opened, the inside flange 66 and reverse hook flange 6'! act as vapor bafiies tending to prevent any hydro-carbon vapors from being discharged from the machine as the cover is removed.

The solvent reservoir In addition to providing a reinforced rim of great mechanical strength, the hollow upper rim of the vapor cabinet acts as a chamber which may be utilized as a reserve solvent reservoir in order to automatically maintain a predetermined To accomplish this, I provide a filler plug 66 in the upper flat portion i5 of the hollow rim and connect the hollow rim reservoir to the vaporizing sump 26 by means of a supply tube 63 and a constant level valve H. The details of the constant level valve H are not illustrated in the drawing since they form no pertinent part of this invention, and it; is believed sufiicient to point out that this valve is arranged to open whenever the solvent level in the vaporizing sump 26 falls forming a part of the sump; said flexible parti-- tion consisting of two thicknesses of metal united at their upper edge.

2. In a high-temperature cabinet adapted for use as a vapor process degreasing chamber, the combination of a relatively rigid side wall assembly and a yieldable bottom section; said yieldable bottom section comprising a liquid sump having wall portions supported in said rigid side wall assembly, and a relatively flexible partition connecting the sump and side wall assembly, said flexible partition formed of two thicknesses of metal joined only at their upper edges, one thickness of metal being continuous with or joined to the bottom of the cabinet and the other thickness being continuous with or joined to the side wall assembly. I

3. In a high-temperature cabinet adapted for use as a vapor process degreasing chamber, the combination of a relatively rigid side wall assembly, a bottom section including a liquid sump and means for yieldingly supporting the bottom section in the side wall assembly including a flexible partition connecting the liquid sump to the side wall assembly; said flexible partition including two thicknesses of metal united at their upper edge surrounding and forming a part of the wall of the sump.

WILLARD D. PHILLIPS. RALPH A. VAN FOSSEN. 

